The Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart took a huge hit with All Pro RB Le'Veon Bell lost for the season with a torn MCL ligament in his knee. With Bell now out of the lineup for the rest of 2015, the Steelers will give the nod to DeAngelo Williams as the primary ball carrier, but who will back up Williams for the rest of the season? Time to look at the depth chart.
After Mike Tomlin's weekly Tuesday press conference, he stated Jordan Todman will back up Williams as the team's primary back up, but also mentioned there are times where it will be a group of backs which will possibly stand behind Williams as potential options.
As Tomlin stated, the loss of Le'Veon Bell requires multiple players to fill his Pro Bowl shoes. After Todman, it is a jumbled mess of who could also be toting the football for the black and gold as the season progresses.
Dri Archer would naturally find his way on the list, but primarily due to the pedigree which comes with being a third round draft pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, but newly acquired Isaiah Pead will certainly be looking to prove he is a quick study by learning the playbook as soon as possible.
Mike Tomlin has openly stated he has always liked Pead, the 2011 Big East offensive player of the year with Cincinnati, and when Pead has passed all the tests from the coaching staff, don't think Tomlin won't hesitate to thrust him into the lineup to help bolster the depth at the running back position.
Outside of Williams, Todman, Archer and Pead, the only other players on the active roster who could take handoffs from Ben Roethlisberger would be fullbacks Will Johnson and Roosevelt Nix. Johnson was the back who handled the back up role in Week 1 against the New England Patriots with Bell on suspension, but looked far from comfortable in such a role.
The simple fact is the running back trio heading into the Week 9 game against the Oakland Raiders will be a healthy dose of DeAngelo Williams, with Jordan Todman the first man off the bench and Dri Archer needed in specific situations and playing more as a receiver than a running back. Todman has yet to prove he is a reliable back up, but it will be interesting to see how long it takes the Steelers to get Pead up to speed before he can step on the field for the first time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.